A few months ago, I was approached by the editor of a magazine in the UK called “The Big Issue.” It is a news magazine that prides itself on being “a hand up, not a hand out.” They combat the problem of homelessness by offering eligible people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income by making money selling copies of the magazine.

I’ve since written two pieces for Big Issue. A new issue is out right now, with my first piece as their American Election Correspondent. You’ll have to get a copy of that one to read it; below is my first piece, from September.

POWERLESS: THE EFFECT OF INDIA’S OUTAGE ON LINKIN PARK

Mike Shinoda

In my band, Linkin Park, I help oversee songwriting, production, art direction, and social media. They are things I grew up doing. I’ve been drawing and making music since I was a toddler. My father worked in aerospace, and introduced us to the personal computer in 1984, shortly after Apple’s famous “1984” ad debuted. I’ve always been a fan of video games—I even started my own club with elementary school friends, centered on beating every Nintendo game we played (I had the team record, finishing a game one hour and fifteen minutes after I first turned it on).

Thanks to your efforts, the fundraising for Japan has been an overwhelming success. Using the tools at http://secretshowforjapan.com/, you guys have raised a ton of funds for the people of Japan (funds are still being raised, a total dollar amount is forthcoming).

Our show will be at The Mayan in Los Angeles, with B’z, August 31st. It’s been years since we’ve played a venue of this intimate size in LA, and we’re excited to see you there.

Proceeds go to Save The Children, for child protection, psychosocial support, and recovery.

Busy busy. Other than my occasional post from Instagram, things have been pretty busy and pretty random over here.

I recently did a podcast with my friend Jensen, who has a show on Kevin Smith’s “Smodcast” network. It’s here. If you want to know what’s up with Spotify, America, Kreayshawn, humble brags, and sax solos, then you have to check it out.

In other news, we’re challenging everyone to go to secretshowforjapan.com and donate to MFR / Save The Children to help kids affected by the situation in Japan. The contest isn’t secret, but the location of the show is–and I think it’s the smallest venue we’ve played in half a decade, maybe more. Anyone able to raise $500 will receive 2 tickets to the show. There are special prizes for the top fundraisers, as well. Just go to the website and start a fundraising page.

Other than that, I’m still writing. I got a new keyboard, the OP-1 by Teenage Engineering. Check it out:

Based on the voting, it seems you guys liked both designs for the MFR t-shirt…so we decided to do both!

They are now for sale on the official Linkin Park web store. Proceeds from these t-shirts will be donated to Music for Relief to help survivors of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan and subsequent tsunami.